Windows 10 Insider Builds Will Soon Include Support For Edge Extensions

The day that many Windows fans have been waiting for is nearly upon us, Microsoft has moved Edge extensions into the RS1_release branch which means that the feature should be arriving with the next insider release of Windows 10. This feature was initially slated to arrive last fall with the November release of Windows 10 but was delayed.

A source inside of Microsoft was able to confirm this information and as long as there are no major hiccups with the testing, extensions are ready for public testing; Winbeta has been hearing similar things as well.

The big question will be if extensions are enough to get users to stay with Edge. Currently, the browser with the last general release of Windows 10, is missing many features that can be found in other platforms which has resulted in slower adoption of the browser and considering a general release version of Edge with extensions are still many months away, Microsoft is fighting an uphill battle.

But, Windows 10 is expected to be on a billion machines within the next two years and with around 250 million devices running the OS, that means there are still 750 million still to be purchased or upgraded to the OS. With those new machines, if Edge, after the first Redstone release, offers a compelling reason to not switch, then the browser does stand a real chance of pushing back against Chrome which has been eating away at Microsoft’s market share.

I don’t know when the next build of Windows 10 will be released but we shouldn’t have to wait all that long as Microsoft has been pushing out new bits several times a month. As long as nothing changes and no show-stopping bugs are found with the extension feature (it is still being tested), then expect the next build to feature this ability. With that being said, if extensions are pulled from the next release, they should show up before Build at the end of this month.